The Evolving Needs of the Federal Government to Reduce Cyber Risk

By Stephanie Sullivan, Consultant

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure as part of the Executive Order 13636. As part of the development process working groups have been formulated to gather feedback from industry and relevant stakeholders regarding the development of the framework in order to identify priority elements the framework must address.

NIST is also looking to utilize public-private collaboration to stand-up the first Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) dedicated exclusively to addressing cybersecurity issues. This facility would carry out the goals of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) to “identify, integrate and adopt cybersecurity solutions.” The proposed FFRDC would tackle a number of initiatives, including:

• The facilitation of public-private relationships to adopt effective cybersecurity approaches that will address the security needs of IT systems
• Research and development efforts to encourage industry investment in cybersecurity practices
• Improve the technical expertise of the cybersecurity workforce

Framework adoption efforts are currently voluntary, but engagement efforts aim to spur industry and government collaboration on information sharing and defending networks. With major emphasis being placed on critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity efforts are not so surprisingly becoming one of few areas where Obama and Congress agree on increased spending. Congress recommends more than $13 billion in cybersecurity spend according to the FY14 budget request, which would be approximately $1B more than current levels. Pentagon spending on cybersecurity operations would jump to $4.7 billion in fiscal 2014 from $3.9 billion the prior year. Analysts are also estimating that cybersecurity spend could surpass $14 billion by 2017.

Join us for an in-depth look at the cybersecurity landscape on July 30 at 8:30 a.m. to gain insight into:

• How to align your sales strategy in the area of cybersecurity to meet the evolving needs of the Federal Government
• How recent mandates, initiatives, and policy drivers are impacting major cybersecurity IT programs and department budgets
• Which programs are rich with funding for cybersecurity related product procurement and what specific technology requirements are expected
• Who makes the relevant buying decisions on the program level

We will also be joined by thought leaders from across the federal government in a panel session:

• Mr. Robert Jack, Deputy Director, C4, U.S. Marine Corps
• Dr. Ron Ross, Senior Computer Scientist and Information Security Researcher, NIST
• Mr. Matthew McCormack, Former CISO, Defense Intelligence Agency and Director of Cybersecurity Operations, IRS